To Live And Die In LV
by I.P.I.C.W
Summary: Will a drivebyshooting cause two of the CSI's to finally admit their feelings for one another? WARNING: Femmeslash. Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: CSI belongs to CBS and Jerry Bruckheimer.

**To Live And Die In Las Vegas**

**By **

**International Partners In Crime Writing**

**Chapter 1**

It was the end of shift, and although the sun had just come up, the temperature in Las Vegas was already sky-high. Grissom and Brass were walking down the halls of the CSI HQ, tired expressions on their faces. The last few weeks had been draining for both of them, and now, after working two days non-stop, they both decided it was time to go home and get some rest.

"Never thought we would get a confession this quick. You didn't even get a chance to show off your investigation skills." Brass gave Grissom a pat on the back. "He'll be looking at four grey walls in no-time"

About an hour before shift would end they caught a B&E. At an antique dealer a silent alarm had gone off, and police officers who were sent to the dealer's arrested someone who had been acting suspicious just a block away. All in all, it seemed to be a pretty open-closed deal.

The suspect –a twenty-five year old guy named Ron Jeffries– confessed even before Brass or Grissom could confront him with the evidence found.

"Even walls can crumble." Grissom started "We still need to verify this new information Jeffries gave us. See if it checks out with the evidence."

"True, true. But for now, adieu." Brass said dramatically as he opened the door of the HQ and walked out into the hot Las Vegas morning sun.

As they walked towards their cars, suddenly a vehicle with screeching tires drove fast into their direction.

Grissom saw that, when the widow went down, something glittered in the sunlight.

"Brass" he shouted "Get down!"

Both Grissom and Brass threw themselves to the ground as soon as the first shot was heard. As the car drove by, Grissom started counting the shots, the investigator in him taking over "….6..7..8"

A total of 8 shots were fired, and then the car sped off.

Getting up his feet again, Grissom looked for the vehicle, and before it was completely out of sight he could still make up part of the number plate.

"PFM"

"Brass? You OK?" Grissom asked as he turned around and looked back at his colleague. The Captain's body lay motionless on the floor, crawled up in fetal position.

Walking over to him Grissom grabbed his cell, and after he had dialed 911 for an ambulance he just kept standing there, staring into the direction the car had fled.

Sara –who had been inside the building– had heard the shots and came out of the HQ, and as she saw Grissom on the phone while Brass lay motionless on the floor she ran over.

Blood started to color the sidewalk red and Sara kneeled down next to Brass. Carefully turning him on his back she noticed two gaping holes; one in his chest, the other in his stomach.

Putting pressure on the gunshot wound in his chest with her hands, Sara tried to get Grissom's attention.

"Grissom!"

After the third time he finally snapped out of his haze, walked over and pressed his hands on the other wound. Just as Sara was about to start about his behavior the ambulance arrived.

The paramedics took things over, and within no-time Brass was put on a gurney and placed in the back of the ambulance.

He had lost a lot of blood already, and his situation was severe. Grissom climbed into the back of the rig, and before the doors were closed he turned back to Sara

"Catherine is on her way. You two process this scene. I'll call as soon as there's news" Apparently he had also called her when he had been on the phone.

Before Sara could answer a paramedic started to close the doors.

"Where are you taking him?" Sara asked

"Desert Palms" the guy said before he got inside as well, and closed the door.

Inside the ambulance the paramedics were still trying to stabilize the detective as the lights flashed and the sirens started to scream, and the rig was gone.

Catherine sat at the red light just before the Crime Lab. She could see the lights from here. The lights that said there was a crime committed that needed solving.

She turned the corner into the parking lot, and found her parking spot blocked off by the crime tape, so she parked as close as she could get, got her kit out, and was momentarily stopped in her tracks by the breathtaking sight of the brunette working hard, processing around where the body had been. The body of their friend, the one that had been there for them every time they needed a shoulder to lean on, someone to talk to, or they just wanted some company. That stirred her out of her thoughts, and she rushed over to where Sara was.

"Sara? What happened?" She asked hesitantly.

Sealing off an evidence envelope containing a bullet fragment Sara rose from her spot and walked over to the blonde, a sad look plastered on her face.

"Drive-through shooting. Apparently Brass was their intended target. He's injured badly. Grissom rode along with the ambulance, and said we should work this…" Sara fought hard against the tears that were welling up in her eyes. The last few months Brass had been so kind to her, he was becoming more like a father to her these days…more of a father than her own had ever been.

However, when she noticed the tears rolling over Catherine's cheek, she found back her strength, knowing she had to keep her calm. Taking one step forwards she engulfed the blonde in a comforting embrace, something they both needed.

But as soon as the hug started it had also been over, know now was not the time Sara looked straight in Catherine's eyes and said "We'll get the bastard who did this, I promise"

She knew Catherine and Brass were also very close friends, but for now they had a scene to work on, so the investigative part in her took over once again.

Walking back to the place where the body had been she spoke up again "I'm almost done here, why don't you check the street, see if there are any tire marks. And then we'll have to inform the others"

Catherine walked up to the street, looking hard for anything that would take them closer to finding the person that had done this to her friend.

She noticed some darker marks leaving the HQ, so she got out her camera and took some photos.

Measuring the tire marks she noticed they were 8 inches wide , but they yielded no other information, so she packed up her kit, picked up the evidence, and went with Sara back inside.

The walk to the evidence vault was silent, and Catherine thought about what was going on. She hadn't seen Brass before they took him in the ambulance, but seeing as how Sara's face hadn't changed, she knew it hadn't been pretty.

She wanted to just take Sara in her arms and comfort her, but she didn't think that was a very good idea. At least not right now. She shook the thoughts from her head, knowing she shouldn't be thinking like this about her partner.

They put the Evidence in the vault and made their way to the break room. No one was there, as shift had already ended, so they would have to call people.

"Do you want to do it, or should I?" Catherine asked, her hand resting on her phone on her hip.

Sighing heavily Sara walked to the fridge and took out two bottles of water. Handing one to the strawberry blonde she walked over to the couch, opened the bottle and took a big gulp of water.

Mere seconds after she had placed herself on the couch, she felt the weight of another body propping itself onto the seat. Lightly their shoulders touched. Feeling the other woman's body so close to her own caused a bolt of electricity to go through Sara's spine. Suddenly she became aware of the stare she was receiving from Catherine.

'Right, she asked me a question…and I still haven't answered'

People skills weren't the brunette's forte, but she knew they had to do this together. This case was as hard for her as it was for Catherine, and not wanting the blonde next to her to have to handle the emotional part of breaking the news to their colleagues on her own she spoke up:

"Could you call Warrick and Nick? I'll call Greg, and I think Doc Robins also needs to be informed."

Although neither Brass nor Doc Robins were CSIs, they both played a big and important role in the CSI's world. Plus, they were also good friends…the whole team was very close, and had become even closer since the team was reunited again.

Seeing Catherine had her eyes still fixed on her, the brunette continued: "After we've taken care of that we'll head towards Desert Palms, OK?"

Catherine plucked her phone from the holder on her hip, and hit speed dial five, which was Nick. She waited patiently for him to pick up, and when he did it was in a groggy voice.

"Hello?"

"Nick? Umm, we need you to come back in. Brass was shot, and we need all of Graveyard shift."

"Yea, I'm on my way."

As Catherine hung up with him, she turned to face the brunette. "He sounded tired, but at least he's coming."

Sara, who was trying to get Greg to answer his phone, gave her a nod. Then Catherine hit speed dial seven next, which was Warrick.

Warrick answered the phone sounding reproachful and distracted.

"Hello?" Catherine heard giggling in the background.

"Warrick? Ummm, I'm sorry to tear you away from Tina, but we need you here."

"Catherine? What happened?"

"Well, Brass was shot and is at Desert Palms, and Sara and I just finished processing the scene, and we need everybody here."

"Ok, I'm on my way."

They hung up too, and Catherine waited for Sara to finish her calls.

"No Doc, we don't know. We haven't heard anything yet."

"Yeah, we're going over in a few minutes. Uhuh, Desert Palms"

"Well, let's hope we won't be needing you this time. Ok, bye"

Sara let out a sigh "Greg can't come. He's off to a congress in Miami."

Grabbing her bottle of water again, she drank the last of it and threw the empty bottle into the waste-basket.

The loud bang that was heard when the bottle hit the bottom of the basket was a clear sign of how the anger and frustration were building up in her body.

"Doc told me we could call him at anytime…if we needed him" Looking straight into Catherine's eyes, she noticed the change in those blue pools in front of her.

Walking over to the strawberry blonde she placed her hand on the older woman's shoulder and gave a reassuring squeeze. "Knowing Brass, he's one tough guy, so we won't need Doc's help."

What happened next surprised the brunette a bit. Just as she was about to turn away two arms grabbed hold of her, and she was being pulled into a hug.

Sensing the blonde's need for comfort she gave in to the embrace, and for minutes they just stood there, in the middle of the break room, soaking in each other's touch.

The sudden ringing of a cell phone made them give up the comfortable position they were in. Both being bit of embarrassed as they realized they had lost themselves in the feeling of each other's body, they reached for their phones.

"It's mine" Sara said

It was Grissom, asking them to come to the hospital. Brass had had surgery, and one bullet had been recovered and needed to be collected as evidence.

"Let's go" Sara spoke up as she held the door open for Catherine.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: CSI belongs to CBS and Jerry Bruckheimer.

Authors' Note: We thank you all for you reviews! Sorry for the long wait, here's another update;)

**Chapter 2**

They walked into Desert Palms and went to the counter and asked where they could find Brass.

The receptionist referred them to the second floor where the ICU was situated.

Catherine followed Sara, still uneasy about seeing Brass like this. She'd been in enough hospital rooms to know what to expect. But she as she walked through the door Sara held open for her she was still surprised.

Seeing the strong, invincible Captain lying half asleep on the bed was almost more then she could take.

She tried her hardest not to let the tears fall, but she couldn't, so instead she focused on Sara, the tall brunette she felt she could always rely on to stay strong.

Sara had noticed Catherine's hesitation to enter, and now saw how she tried to fight against the tears from falling, and placed her hand on the strawberry blonde's lower back.

She pulled her close and put her arms along the slender waist of the smaller woman. Her hands unconsciously started to trace circles across Catherine's back, and before she realized it, she placed a kiss on top of the blonde's head.

When they heard the door behind them open, they quickly let go of each other –both a bit embarrassed and avoiding one another's eyes. Turning around they looked up to face the person that had entered the room.

It was their boss, who held up two evidence bags before saying "I've already retrieved the bullets" He walked over to his colleagues and handed over the evidence.

"Thanks" Sara started as she reached and grabbed hold of the bags. Turning back to watch the wounded Captain on the bed she continued "You'll let us know as soon as his situation changes, right?"

Grissom gave her a nod in response.

"Alright. Catherine, let's go."

Not immediately receiving a response from the older woman –who had placed her hand over Brass'– she took a step towards her.

Placing a hand on Catherine's shoulder she asked again "Are you coming?"

By giving the strawberry blonde a reassuring squeeze she got her attention, and without further words they walked out of the room, leaving Grissom at the detective's bed.

Outside, the two women got into their Tahoe and headed off for the CSI HQ again.

While Sara stopped the car at a traffic light, she looked over at Catherine –who hadn't said a word since they left the hospital. Seeing a single tear finding its way across the strawberry blonde's face, she couldn't help herself and reached over, wiping away the tear.

Looking straight into two pools of blue she started inching closer. Softly their lips connected and it seemed for a moment time stood still…until Sara's mind caught up with what she had just done.

"I'm sorry…I shouldn't have…" Sara stammered, but was stopped by a finger gently placed against her lips.

"Sara," Catherine said softly, "You shouldn't talk so much."

She leaned back over to Sara, but just before their lips met for a second time, an impatient driver behind them honked their horn, startling them. Apparently, the light had turned green while they were absorbed with each other.

"But you _should_ drive." She said, sitting back in her seat, grinning, and watching Sara as she drove, looking slightly confused.

Catherine was confused too. After all, the object of her desires had just kissed her. But what if Sara didn't really feel that way? What if she just was seeking comfort from someone, and Catherine was the closest one there.

Catherine shook her head to get rid of 'what ifs', but, try as she might, she couldn't shake that little seed of doubt.

The rest of their trip over to the HQ was done in silence –which was almost deafening. They could almost hear their brains working overtime on what had just happened between them.

As Sara pulled the Tahoe onto the parking lot, both of them realized that there was another job at hand first. Their thoughts about everything that wasn't case-related had to be put on hold.

Catherine was already leaving the car when Sara grabbed her shoulder. "Maybe we could talk after shift?" the brunette said, knowing they had to talk things through at one point. "I'll buy you breakfast" She quickly added, trying to lighten the mood.

Looking at Catherine, she saw a small smile creep onto her face. "Sure" was the answer she got before the strawberry blonde exited the Tahoe.

After grabbing the evidence bags with the bullets, and quickly locking the car, Sara and Catherine walked towards the HQ entrance.

Walking through the halls their investigative minds soon took over again and the women started discussing their next steps.

"Let's bring these to Bobby" Catherine said, as she pointed to the bags in Sara's hands. "Then we'll go to the break room. The guys'll probably be here already." Getting a nod in response they headed of towards the ballistics lab.

"Bobby" Catherine said as she and Sara finally found the ballistics tech.

"Catherine, Sara. Any news on Brass' situation?" He answered, looking up from a microscope.

"He's had surgery, and is on the ICU now, the next few hours are critical. He needs to pull through the next couple of hours, then he'll be in the clear." Sara said as she walked over to him. "And these," She said as she pointed to the evidence bags containing the bullets "are your priority"

Taking the bags from the brunette he said "I'm on it." Receiving a short nod from both of the women before they walked off, he added "I'll send you the results A.S.A.P."

As they reached the break room, Sara stopped before entering, and let out a big sigh. Within less than an hour they had been to the hospital, collected the bullets, and were now back at the break room –where their other colleagues were waiting impatiently for both of them.

"Ok, let's update the guys" Sara said to Catherine.

"You can do this" was the reply she got.

A confused look came onto the brunette's face as she turned to face Catherine.

"You're the one who took the lead on the scene when the shooting just happened, so you're going to be the lead on this case" the strawberry blonde explained as she tentatively reached for Sara's hand.

"Which means I'm going to be the one doing the talking" Sara said, a little scepticism noticeable in her voice.

Feeling the older woman's soft fingers gently squeezing hers, Sara pulled herself together, and took the last step to the door of the break room.

"Well then, let's get this show on the road" she said as she pushed the door open, and let Catherine enter first.

Catherine went and sat in the one of the two chairs that were left vacant in the room. Sara followed behind, somewhat reluctantly, and sat in the other. She surveyed the faces of her co-workers.

Warrick looked like he had just come from dinner, and she felt sorry for dragging him away from Tina. She already complained that they didn't spend enough time together.

Nick looked tired, which was understandable, but he looked alert, ready for what was coming, even if he didn't know exactly what that was.

And then there was Catherine. She looked...well basically, she looked like crap. Which was understandable, considering the fact that she had just seen Brass, and had been crying recently.

But her eyes held an emotion that was foreign to the brunette, and she almost couldn't place it. She was worried that it was wishful thinking on her part, but remembering what had passed between them just a few minutes ago in the car, she started to realize that it was anything but.

She was brought out of her reverie as she remembered everybody was waiting for her to tell them all the facts about Brass.

"Ok guys, listen up. Catherine and I just got back from the hospital. Brass has had surgery, one of the bullets had hit his spleen. The other just missed the aorta, but did perforate her lung."

Looking around at her colleagues, she noticed they all had sad looks on their faces, but one face showed her something else. Receiving a supporting nod of the strawberry blonde, she continued.

"They were able to retrieve one bullet, intact. It's being processed by Bobby as we speak."

"So, what next? What do you want us to do?" Nick asked, trying to contain his emotions as thoughts of his own case were starting to fill his mind.

"Well," Sara thought for a moment. "I want you two to work on another case that..."

"NO WAY!" the Texan interrupted almost screaming, slamming his fist on the table, and standing up quickly –knocking over his chair.

All eyes were pointed at him now, shock written on his colleagues' faces. Catherine –who sat next to Nick- placed her hand on his arm.

"Calm down Nick. Sit and let Sara finish."

Sending the older woman a look of gratitude, Sara spoke up again. "The case might be related to the shooting. Last week Brass has been working on a gang related drive-by-shooting, and arrested one of the gang-members."

Hearing that he was still working on a case that was probably related to Brass' shooting, Nick calmed down.

After handing Nick a brown file, she turned her focus to Warrick. "Grissom saw part of the number plate, PFM, guess that's a good starting point."

"On it, we'll check with DMV." The tall dark man said.

"Catherine and I will go through the other evidence we found at the scene. It's not much, but you'll never know." Sara stated.

"If anything changes in Brass' situation I'll inform you, alright?"

Receiving nods from all her colleagues, Sara let out a breath she apparently had been holding.

"Ok, well, let's go." The brunette said as she stood up.

"I'm sorry about what just happened Sara. It's just…" Nick said.

"It's ok Nick, I understand." Sara started, "Now, let's get the bastard who did this."

Just as they walked out of the break room Sara's cell phone started to ring.

"Sidle"

"Sara? It's Grissom."

**To Be Continued**

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